[Bilimsel Haber] Toward a Comparative Discussion on “Rightist” Movements Conference

[Gonul Pultar]

	*Toward a Comparative Discussion on “Rightist” Movements Conference 
Thursday March 13 and Friday March 14 2008 Graduate Center, City 
University of New York*
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*Location:* 	New York 
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=United%20States&location=New%20York>, 
United States 
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=United%20States>
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Call for Papers

Toward a Comparative Discussion on “Rightist” Movements
Conference Thursday March 13 and Friday March 14 2008
Graduate Center, City University of New York

The utopian project of neo liberalism together with associated forms of 
'globalization' have significantly altered the organization and 
conceptualization of 'the nation' as well as of economic, social, and 
political society. The anxieties caused by these shifts have in turn 
compelled the rise of an array of communitarian, culturalist, racial, or 
nationalist movements often defined as 'rightist' or 'conservative'. 
While these terms serve to categorize a variety of types of movements, 
the global refraction and deployment of these terms often has the effect 
of obscuring the particulars shared and distinctions and relations 
between the movements described.

Through the interrogation of the employment of 'rightist' and 
'conservative' language and projects across the globe, this conference 
will explore the commonalities and differences between the anxieties, 
imaginaries, solutions, and contexts of specific movements. By examining 
the particulars of a few of these movements and interrogating the 
appropriateness of the labels used to describe them, this conference 
seeks to generate a comparative conversation about what constitutes this 
political 'shift to the right'. The conference will include several 
roundtable discussions between scholars to explore the relationship 
between ‘conservative’ cultural and nationalist mobilizations and the 
broader economic policies that these mobilizations support, contest, 
and/or respond to.

This interdisciplinary conference seeks papers focusing on, but not 
limited to, specific case studies of ‘rightist’ or ‘conservative’ 
movements, theoretical examinations of ‘the right’ in political and 
economic fields, historical accounts of various rightist movements, or 
broader analytic works that explore the theoretical framing of 
“rightist” and “conservative” movements, ideas, and policies. All 
speakers will be asked to consider the following themes in their paper 
presentations:

# What criteria are used to define ‘the right’?
# Can we understand ‘rightist’ ideas or mobilizations as based on a 
particular relationship between culture and economics? How might we 
understand this relationship from a comparative perspective?
# How do we understand ‘the right’ in relation to ‘the left’?
# Is ‘the right’ a useful category of analysis?

Abstracts, limited to 250 words, should be sent to 
rightistconference at gmail.com *no later than January 20th, 2008*. We ask 
that, if possible, participants plan to stay for the duration of the two 
day conference as our goal is to hone a common vocabulary for 
comparative purposes.

We are pursuing publication options for a selection of conference 
papers. We are looking for papers from scholars within and outside of 
the academy. Additionally, we are also able to provide a select number 
of home stays for those attending the conference from outside of the New 
York area.

The conference will begin on Thursday and will include a plenary 
discussion between Joseph Lowndes, author of the forthcoming book The 
Southern Origins of Modern Conservatism (Yale U. Press), and Kimberly 
Phillips-Fein, author of the forthcoming book tentatively titled The 
Great Utopia: How American Business Fought the New Deal Order. The 
conference will end on Friday with a roundtable discussion followed by a 
reception.

This Conference is Sponsored by The Center for Humanities, Department of 
Anthropology, Center for Place Culture and Politics- all of the CUNY 
Graduate Center. The conference will be free and open to the public, and 
all CUNY students.

	Sophie Statzel and Mary Taylor
Graduate Center, City University of New York

Email: rightistconference at gmail.com <mailto:rightistconference at gmail.com>